Mexico's Cinema Experiences Strongest Summer in a Decade

Mexico's cinema industry is celebrating its most successful summer in a decade, with the 2026 season shattering previous box office records. The robust performance is largely attributed to the immense popularity of major releases such as 'Toy Story 5' and 'Spider-Man: A New Day,' which collectively sold 36 million tickets in local theaters.

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The summer has practically been the most successful at the box office in the last 10 years, Toy Story and Spider-Man together made a lot of money, they have been very big titles. People do want to go to the movies, but they are also very focused on watching event films.

Mauricio Durán, president of the National Chamber of the Cinematographic and Audiovisual Industry (Canacine), highlighted that the summer's box office success has been significant, with the two top films alone generating nearly 3 million pesos. Notably, the ongoing World Cup and recent evening rains did not deter audiences, underscoring a strong public appetite for cinematic events. Durán commented that audiences are eager to see 'event movies,' and even the World Cup, which Cinépolis broadcast, contributed to increased attendance rather than detracting from it.

So far this year, 'Spider-Man' leads in attendance with 18.3 million tickets sold, followed by 'Toy Story 5' with 17.5 million, and 'Super Mario Galaxy' surpassing 15 million. Other summer releases like 'La odisea' (6.6 million tickets), 'Minions & monstruos' (4.3 million), and the live-action 'Moana' (2.3 million) also contributed to the strong overall figures. As of August 23, attendance is up 4% compared to the same period in 2025, with projections indicating that total attendance and box office revenue for 2026 will surpass last year's numbers.

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For cinemas, the World Cup also represented people because Cinépolis had the rights to broadcast the matches and attendance not only did not fall, but it went up.

The positive trend extends to national cinema as well, which has seen a 1% increase in attendance from January to August 2025. Top-performing Mexican films include '¿Quieres ser mi novia?' with 1.3 million tickets sold, and 'Socias por accidente' and 'Bendito corazón,' each drawing around 900,000 attendees. Upcoming releases like the animation 'Gungo y los juegos cavernícolas' by Huevocartoon are expected to further boost the national film industry's performance.

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Practically in all countries where Hollywood is dominant, they are up in their numbers. Toy Story and Spider-Man have been very big titles and people are attending.